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This note develops and explains a five-part framework for persuading others to support (or not oppose) a desired course of action.

This short (B) case provides an update of how Microsoft organized its unlimited potential initiative.

This note analyses and compares the legal definitions and practical applications of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union.

This note details the use and treatment of Covenants not to Compete in the United States, United Kingdom and France to compete or trade secrets versus patents as alternative ways to protect a business' intellectual property.

The case looks at the two dominant Finnish retailers: S Group and Kesko. S Group is a customer-owned cooperative, which has a unique holding structure whereby 1.7 million residents (or 70 percent of Finnish households) own 22 regional cooperatives. In turn, the regional cooperatives own SOK, a centralized company that provides services to the regional cooperatives. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, S Group lagged far behind the market leader, Kesko. However, since 2005, S Group has held the leadership position; in 2007, it had captured 41 percent market while Kesko's was 33.9 percent. Kesko Plc is publicly traded and pursues a model whereby retailer entrepreneurs use their personal funds to invest in stores and operate them completely. The case requires that students consider sources of competitive advantage that arise from the companies' markedly different business models.

CARE USA, a large ($600 million) international nonprofit/NGO, had recently revamped its external branding and positioning in support of its international development work. The case lays out the challenges facing its new CEO, Helene Gayle, as she manages through the organization's transition.

This case traces the development of eBay Germany, eBay Inc., and the career of eBay Germany's first country manager, Philipp Justus. The case covers from 2000 through the fall of 2007. This case details how eBay Germany, once a small start-up, became one of eBay's most successful locations. The case reveals how Justus added seasoned leaders and structure to the group, while allowing for improvisation. The case also traces Justus's career, as he moved to running eBay Europe and ultimately, the auctions group, which took him to headquarters. Like eBay Germany, eBay itself grew tremendously, in part from acquisitions like PayPal and Skype. But, growth in core areas, like auctions, had slowed. This case explains how eBay Inc. and eBay Germany tried to keep their "secret sauce."

This case presents students with an opportunity to develop a set of performance metrics based on four strategic goal statements. The setting is a highly ranked United States MBA program. Students are given some basic, limited-but-sufficient contextual information about the school to get a sense of its heritage, avowed differentiating characteristics, and important foci.

In 2008, the Japanese consumer payments landscape featured ongoing widespread use of cash, limited use of credit cards and rapid rise of e-money systems based on contactless technology embedded in cards and especially mobile phones. The case details the alliances that created new products, as well as the regulations that sometimes stood in the way. Throughout, the case identifies incentives for both consumers and merchants, including direct costs, efficiency benefits, rebates, and treatment in case of loss or fraud.

The founders of BarKar, an investment company, are considering whether to invest in Harley-Davidson Inc. BarKar is a value-oriented investment company in Vancouver, B.C., Canada that specializes in identifying and investing in companies trading at more than a one-third discount to their intrinsic value. In order to reach a decision, the founders have to look at the financials and carry out a strategic analysis to determine the intrinsic value of this stock.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The lender case for the Real Property Negotiation Game. Porus Bank must decide to which buyers they must learn and at what terms.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The buyer case for the Real Property Negotiation Game. Celia Hernandez must decide which of two properties to purchase.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The buyer case for the Real Property Negotiation Game. Celia Hernandez must decide which of two properties to purchase.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The seller case, Raleigh Commons, for the Real Property Negotiation Game. Steve Stroud must decide whether and at what price to sell his property.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The seller case, Las Vegas, for the Real Property Negotiation Game. David Stephens must decide whether and at what price to sell his property.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The seller case, Las Vegas, for the Real Property Negotiation Game. David Stephens must decide whether and at what price to sell his property.

The Real Property Negotiation Game simulates the experience negotiating the sale, purchase, or financing of a property. The class competes as either a lender, buyer, or one of two groups of sellers, Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. The seller case, Raleigh Commons, for the Real Property Negotiation Game. Steve Stroud must decide whether and at what price to sell his property.

In June 2008, the online professional networking service LinkedIn became a $1 billion company. But CEO Dan Nye understood that LinkedIn faced several strategic dilemmas. Founded in 2002, LinkedIn by 2008 had become the world's leading professional networking service (PNS), with more than 23 million members. Aiming to "dominate the business of business networking," in Nye's words, LinkedIn allowed individual members to post a profile on the LinkedIn site and then to use the site's tools to search for job opportunities; to recruit job candidates; to find suppliers, partners, and customers; and to seek out expert advice. The company was also expanding into corporate services that would enable companies to build and manage their own online networks. With revenue sources that included advertising, premium subscriptions, job posting services, and business solutions, LinkedIn was on track to bring in revenues in 2008 of up to $100 million. A new funding round in mid-2008 yielded a $1 billion valuation for the company. Three key dilemmas confronted LinkedIn, however. First, at a time when the "walled garden" model of online community building was under siege, it had to decide how far it should open its platform to users. Second, in light of competition from highly popular social network services such as Facebook and MySpace, LinkedIn had to decide whether to incorporate social networking into its value proposition. Third, in an increasingly global business environment, it had to weigh the option of merging with its leading international competitor, XING.com.

In 2008, the US consumer payments landscape was characterized by the ongoing prevalence of credit and debit card networks, the decline of checks, the rise of stored value cards, and the growth of new payment methods such as PayPal, Bill Me Later and decoupled debit. This case presents the structure of these payment methods, focusing on incentives for both consumers and merchants, including direct costs, efficiency benefits, rebates, and treatment in case of loss or fraud.

Created in 1991, the ARCOR Foundation had built a reputation for its social investment programs devoted to childhood-related issues as well as for its operations' professionalism and magnitude in Argentina. Virtually since its inception, the Foundation focused on education to help mitigate childhood issues. Seventy percent of its budget was devoted to funding and supporting educational opportunities for very young children. To that end, the Foundation not only focused on program model creation but also on engaging other actors, knowledge building and advocacy for public policies targeted to young children. Its strategic approach also hinged on community work, engaging organizations and, primarily, institutional networks to enhance resources, mobilize actors, and coordinate efforts around public and private actors. Although ARCOR's affiliate in Brazil had, from early on, embarked on several educational, social and environmental actions, it was only in the late 1990s that the Group decided to have the Foundation -based in Argentina- support corporate community initiatives to accompany its Brazilian affiliate's growth. Among other initiatives, the case describes an initiative of cooperation with the World Childhood Foundation Institute and with Fundación Vitae, as well as the replication of ARCOR Foundation's programs in Argentina. There is also an account of a survey to assess corporate social practices so far, which detected a somewhat dispersed and philanthropic approach.